Rule-working machine



' (No Model.) 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 1-.

' R. ATWATER.

RULE WORKING MAGHINE.

No. 400,818. I Patented'Apr. Z, 1889.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets -Sheet 2.

R. ATWATER.

RULE WORKING MACHINE.

PatentedApr. Z, 1889.

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T UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

RICHARD ATWATER, OF MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT.

RU LE-WORKING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 400,818, dated April 2, 1889.

Application filed April 7, 1888.

To all whom it may concern-.-

Be it known that I, RICHARD ATWATER, of Meriden, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rule-Working Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of said invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters or figu res of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to machines for cutting, slotting, or mitering printers rules to adapt them to be set up with or without type, in a variety of ornamental forms, and the obj ects of my improvements are to provide a machine which will cut plain miters to any required depth in the rule, which may be curved or straight, and at any required angle, for the purposes hereinafter described.

The invention consists in the construction and combination of parts, hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, to which reference is made and which form a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side view of the machine with one of the gages, N, removed. Fig. 2 is a front view of the machine. Figs. 3 and 4 are plan views of the turn-table for supporting the work. Fig. 5 represents a cutter which may be substituted for that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and which is of a different shape therefrom. Fig. 6 represents a portion of a rule which has been operated upon by a cutter such as that shown in Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the entire machine, a portion of one track D being broken out to show clearly the curved bar D, the screw M, and lugs m and m and a portion of the turn-tableand circular frame being broken out to show the construction thereof, and said figure showing the continuation of portions of the frame by dotted lines.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A base or frame, A, is provided with a standard, B, for carrying the cutting and bending mechanism, hereinafter described. Said frame A, as shown, consists of a central longitudinal bar, having a rear cross-bar, a, and a front cross bar, (1, these cross-bars extending out on each side to steady the machine. The

Serial No. 269,993. (No model.)

be adjusted sidewise. substantially T-shaped, the front bar, #6

thereof fitting in the cut-away portion of cross-,-.

bar a, and free to be adjusted alongsaid cross-bar. A clamp, 0, projects from the top of the bar C over the cross-bar a, and has a thumb-screw, L, for holding the track-support 0 in its adjusted position. Adjustable stops or gages, N, which may be, as shown, similar in shape to the clamp c, and having set-screws L, are placed on the ends of crossbar a to limit the distance to which the tracksupport may be adjusted. The longitudinal bar of support 0 extends rearwardly and terminates in a fiat bearing, m, which, in the adjustments of said support, rides on the upper face of rear cross-bar, a. At m is shown a lug projecting upward from the longitudinal bar of support 0 to form a guide, as hereinafter referred to.

At each end of bar 0 a lug, c rises, and to these lugs are pivoted at O the lugs d, which depend from tracks D. Said tracks are at their rear ends connected by a curved bar, D, and from the center of said bar D a lug, m projects forwardly and is slotted to receive the lug m of track-support C. An adjusting-screw, M, is threaded to fit a threaded hole in bar D, and the lower end of said screw rests upon the flat bearing m, before referred to.

It will be seen that by turning the screw M the tracks can be leveled or inclined, turning upon pivots C and guided by the lugs m and m A carriage, E, consisting of an open or skeleton frame is fitted to slide on tracks D, having suitable guiding-flanges, as shown, which engage the sides of the tracks. Said carriage has rigidly secured to it an upwardly-project ing ring, E, which receives the depending ring-flange E of the turn-table F. Suitable means, as a set-screw, 6 may be used to secure the turn-table in its rotary adjusted position. An extension, 8, projecting forwardly from carriage E, forms a bearing for a vertical shaft, K, having a hand-wheel, K. A

strap, wire, or cord, in, is connected at one end to a cross-rod, d, of the track-frame, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7, and at the other end is connected to the shaft K. By turning handwheel K the strap 7t will be wound upon shaft K, thereby forcing the carriage E, its table F, and the work thereupon under and against the action of the cutting-tool, hereinafter described.

On the edge of turn-table F is a series of index-marks, f, and a pointer, F, extends from the carriage E to the edge of said turntable.

The turn-table is provided with a series of slots, f for the reception of bolts for securing gage-blocks Q at any angle to the said table. These gage-blocks may be straight, as shown in Fig. 3, or curved, as shown in Fig. 4, and said gage-blocks I make of some soft material, preferably wood, in order that the said block will not oifer material resistance to cutting the rule at any angle.

The surface of the turn-table is provided with circular marks for indicating the correct position in which curved rules should be secured.

The rule to be operated upon is set on its edge against the side of the block Q, and se cured thereto by means of suitable clamps, which, as shown in the drawings, consist of inverted-U-shaped pieces of metal provided with a clamping-screw near one end. The rule being secured to its appropriate block 011 the side thereof toward the cutter, an d the table being then moved toward the cutter, the rule will be cut to a depth corresponding to the difference between the height of the rule in its secured position and the height of the bottom of the cutter above the top of the table. It is to be understood that the table is to be moved until the rule has reached or passed under the lowermost point of the cutter, the block offering no material resistance to such movement and being of course cut into.

In Fig. 7 a curved rule is shown in position and is indicated at 00. In a bearing at or near the end of standard B and overhanging the turn-table is a shaft for carrying the rotary cutter G, and suitable multiplying-gearing, II, for operating the cutter, is carried also by the standard.

At I is shown an upperbending-roll, which is formed by a continuation of themain driving-shaft,,and below it are placed two smaller rolls, 1, which are supported in bearings that are vertically adjustable to and from the upper roll by means of hand-screw J. The said bearings have their vertical movement in a box or case that is secured to or forms a part of the end of the standard B. A lug,j, (see Fig. 1,) also projects from said standard and fits a slot in the block of the bearings. This lug carries the screw J for adjusting the said block, and it also is tapped to receive the screw i of a vertical piece, t', which at its upper end forms a bearing for the outer end of the upper bending-roll, I.

The operation of my machine is as follows: The turn-table being set with the plane of the saw-shaped cutter passing through its center, and a rule being fastened in place at right angles to the cutter, a square cut will be made on operating the cutter and feeding the work to it by turning the hand-wheel K. If, before cutting, the table is turned onesixth of a circle and then the machine is operated, the first miter for a triangle will be made. By then turning the table the other way one-third and making the cut at the other end of the rule the piece will be finished. Two more pieces like the first will be made, and the rules for setting up an equilateral triangle are finished. If the table is set one-eighth out of'square, it gives the correct position for a rectangle, and then turning the table onefourth the other way gives the position for the other miter. For a pentagon the table is set one-tenth of a circle, and after cutting reversed one-fifth; for a hexagon, one-twelfth and one-sixth; for an octagon, one-sixteenth and one-eighth, and so on for forms of any number of sides.

It will be seen that by this machine perfectly-uniformmiters can be cut in straight or curved rules, whereby a great variety of beautiful forms can be produced for use in the printers art.

I have shown in Figs. 1 and 2 a circular saw for cutting miters, the sides of the cut made thereby being, of course, parallel; but it is to be understoodthat my invention em braces with equal force the use of a cutter such as shown in Fig. 5, such cutter having an acting face adapted to cut a slot or miter having angular sides. In both cases the shape of the slot or miter will correspond with the shape in radial section of the cutter used. Therefore I contemplate the use, in connection with the table and other mechanism described, of a cutter which will produce a miter the sides of which shall meet at an angle of more or less acuteness. By substituting the cutter O for the thin cutter G, fastening the rule fiat upon the turn-table, and adjusting the latter until the rule is parallel with the axis of the cutter, and then op= crating the machine, cuts or miters will be made in the rule having a shape corresponding with that of the periphery of the cutter, and of a depth according to the adjustment in elevation of the table. An illustration of this is shown in Fi 6, in which the rule I is provided with miter cuts which will enable it to be bent up on these miters and form a border or frame of one piece.

The bending-rolls I and I enable a rule to be curved more or less, as desired, prior to being mitered or afterward.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. In a rule-working machine, the combination of a vertically-adjustable work-sup porting turn'table with. a rotary cutter supported above it, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a laterally and ver-= tically adjustable turn-table with a rotary cutter supported above it, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with tracks D, of the carriage E, having turn-table F and the rotary cutter supported above it, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the base and standard A B of a rule-cutting machine, of the rule-bending rolls I I, the roll I being operated by the main driving-shaft of the cutting mechanism, the lower rolls, I, being adj ustable toward and from the upper roll, substantially as described.

gage-blocks thereto, in combination with a Y cutter supported above said table and means for feeding the table under the cutter, whereby the work is carried thereto, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RICHARD ATWATER.

Witnesses:

J. R. HULL, A. W. HARRISON. 

